Apple Regains Dominant Position in the Tablet Space

Though the competition continues to get stiffer in the tablet space, iPad maker Apple has regained the dominant position in this sector in the second quarter (Q2), according to market research firm IHS iSuppli’s latest study. The study shows that Apple, which created the market about two years ago, remains the king of all media tablets.

According to the report, Apple’s global market share rose to nearly 70 percent in the second quarter, putting the company on pace to reclaim much of the dominance it surrendered in 2011.

Apple during the second quarter shipped 17 million iPad 2 and new iPad media tablets, up a stunning 44.1 percent from 11.8 million in the first quarter.

The report shows that the increase in shipments translated into a market share gain of 11.5 percentage points. As a result, Apple’s Q2 global tablet share rose to 69.6 percent, up from 58.1 percent in the first quarter.

This marks a five-quarter high for Apple’s media tablet market share. The last time Apple accounted for such a large portion of the media tablet was the first quarter of 2011, when it had a 70.0 percent share.

In a statement, Rhoda Alexander, director, tablet and monitor research for IHS, said, “Apple is making all the right moves to rebuild its dominant position in the tablet space.”

“The company is pushing visual performance boundaries with the new iPad, while providing value customers with a lower-priced alternative, the iPad 2. With the expected entrance of the 7-inch version of the iPad in September, Apple is sending a clear message that it plans to dominate this market over the long term,” added Alexander.

Apple’s major media tablet rivals, Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp., hope to challenge Apple in the second half of the year, but will be facing formidable headwinds with no sign that the market leader is backing off of its aggressive strategy in the market, said IHS.